John Stones will miss the Manchester derby with the hamstring injury he picked up with England but Pep Guardiola has been encouraged by Aymeric Laporte's continued progress from injury.
The Manchester City manager does not expect to be without Stones for the typical length of four-to-six weeks for a hamstring injury, instead hoping he can return in 10 days to two weeks. However, he confirmed he will not be available for selection for Sunday's match with Manchester United and the same could be said for the Premier League game with Southampton and the Champions League double-header with FC Copenhagen.
If that is not the news City wanted from the international window, Guardiola is happy with Laporte's progress. The Spaniard has not played all season after undergoing surgery in May on a knee injury, but trained on his own in Manchester over the past fortnight and will have had three sessions with the squad before Sunday.
Also read: Every word from Pep Guardiola ahead of Man United fixture
Guardiola has been willing to gamble on the fitness of players for big games before, but while he wouldn't rule out Laporte coming straight into the team on Sunday he did point out that there are alternatives he can opt for this weekend. Manuel Akanji has impressed since joining from Dortmund, while Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake are also available.
City's boss also said that Kalvin Phillips is getting better after undergoing successful surgery on his shoulder. The former Leeds midfielder has had a frustrating start to life at the Etihad but still has his World Cup dream alive.
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